


Dreams and Despair

by Tangent101



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adapted from Season Four, F/M, Pyrrha we miss you, tear-jerker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 06:34:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangent101/pseuds/Tangent101
Summary: Ruby Rose wakes from her nightmares only to find Jaune missing and a familiar voice calling in the distance...(adapted from the end of Season Four, Episode Two)





	Dreams and Despair

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [RWBY: Volume 4, Chapter 2: Remembrance](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/359415) by Rooster Teeth. 



**Dreams and Despair**  
_by R. A. Howard_

My eyes flutter open, the world fading from silver to black. The dream again. It seems like I can't close my eyes without hearing Pyrrha's voice. She calls out to Jaune, or asks about destiny. At least this time I didn't hear Cinder respond. I close my eyes to the night, hoping sleep will return.

"Jaune."

_Nope! No sleep for me!_ I sit up with a gasp and look around. The fire has died down to glowing embers, though the logs haven't collapsed in on themselves yet. Fireflies flit around the campsite. Nora and Ren continue to sleep, their weapons ready by their sides. We learned early on to keep our clothes on even in sleep. We've been woken by Grimm more than once. And to be honest? It gets chilly outdoors even now, so I've also taken to sleeping with my cloak on. It did take me a bit to learn not to roll over onto the bullets on my belt.

_Jaune?_ Jaune's missing. He's not by the fire. His bag lies open.

Words echo in the night. Pyrrha's voice. I can barely make out her telling Jaune to follow her instructions. _I should wake the others. I should_ \-- I stand, leaving Crescent Rose by my sleeping bag, and make my way around bushes and trees, heading toward where the voice had been. Silence has filled the air once more.

Moonlight gleams through breaks in the canopy, dust or pollen tracing the rays of light. The glade has been transformed into something from a fairy tale. Everywhere fireflies flit, fading away only to brighten in the distance; for one moment I lift my hand and let my fingers trail one of them. A second flits by and both fly away, vanishing into the night.

I'm reminded of the old tales, of the Gates between worlds. Stories spoke that on some nights they would open and those Beyond would return, if but for a moment. This is a night of ghosts, of the dead rising from their graves to walk the land. _What am I going to find? I should wake the others! I should-- Jaune._ I move behind a tree, leaning against it and peering into the glade where Jaune stands.

Jaune pulls his blade from his shield, his left foot forward, and readies his shield before stepping forward with his right foot. He lifts his blade up into the moonlight and stares at it before turning his head. My eyes follow his to his Scroll, perched on an old stump. A young red-haired woman in brown-and-gold armor stares up at him from the Scroll, her eyes gleaming green. _Pyrrha_.

"Alright, Jaune. Just like we practiced, follow these instructions" she says. Behind her Beacon Tower glows, intact and before Remnant's shattered moon which hangs low in the night sky in the Scroll. "Shield up!" Jaune looks away, readying his shield and staring over the golden edge. We'd taken Pyrrha's weapons and shield, which Uncle Qrow had recovered for Jaune, and had a blacksmith use them to reinforce his shield and build him a new breastplate. That was in the village before Shion. Before all the death we'd seen there.

I couldn't pull my gaze away from him. From them. "Keep your grip tight." He readied his sword. "Don't forget to keep your front foot forward!" Jaune remained still. He'd already learned this lesson it seems. "Ready?" Pyrrha asks, and then "Go!"

Jaune let out a _kiai_ and lunges with his long sword, focusing his Aura through the blade, and I heard force cut through the air as his Aura manifested. "Again!" He slashed his weapon again, a wave of force rippling the grass before him and vanishing into the shadows of the night. He panted and Pyrrha called out "and again!" and Jaune turned, swinging hard with another _kiai_ , a wave of force rippling through the grass once more. I shrank into the tree. He'd not seen me. He panted painfully and I swallow, watching him train. _I should not be here._

His sword was still up, though his shield wasn't ready, and Pyrrha's voice came from the Scroll again. "Okay!" I heard barely-suppressed laughter as she spoke, "now, assuming you aren't cheating, we can take a break." I felt my lips start to quirk upward as I blinked back tears. I guess she'd caught him once before. She recorded training sessions for him. He was practicing with her. _Even now, Pyrrha is with us._

He straightened and looks at the Scroll as Pyrrha spoke once more. "I know this can be frustrating. And it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount. But, I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves. You've grown so much since we started training. And I know this is just the beginning." I could barely make out the small image of Pyrrha turn away and look shyly at Jaune through her bangs. _I shouldn't be here._ I can't move. I'm frozen to this tree.

Pyrrha turned fully back to the camera, her voice going from amused and proud to... hesitant. Unsure. He turned fully toward his Scroll, his eyes narrow. "Jaune, I-- I--" There is a pause. He tilts his head as she speaks. For a moment I know what she's going to say. And then the moment is lost. "I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune."

The Scroll makes a garbled noise and then chirps. Jaune lowers his head and the Scroll starts up again, Pyrrha speaking from beyond the grave once more. Jaune gives out this small gasp, his pain echoing in my soul. "Alright, Jaune. Just like we practiced, follow these instructions. Shield up! Keep your grip tight! Don't forget to keep your front foot forward. Ready? Go!" He readies his shield and sword and gives off a _kiai_ so full of pain that I can't help but flinch. He strikes again, and again, Pyrrha instructing him through each step, and finally, finally I am able to pull away.

I flee back to the camp, leaving Jaune to his solitude. Leaving him to his pain, training to the voice of his dead love. I would get no more sleep tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a day or two after Rooster Teeth released Remembrance (Season Four, Chapter 2). It... needed to be written. I still want to give it to Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross to say "how's it feel, guys?" when they read it. ;) After all, it's been a little bit, it's probably faded from their memory. Mostly. ;)


End file.
